The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world’s largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 50 countries and more than 25 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you’re a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.
The IRC worked in Haiti from 2010 through 2016, initially launching an emergency response to the earthquake and later delivering child protection, water and sanitation, health, women’s protection and empowerment, and economic recovery programs in Port-au-Prince and beyond. Even with the closure of its country office in 2016, the IRC has continued to provide operational, technical, and financial support to a small number of Haitian NGO partners, including in response to the 2021 earthquake. Haiti was identified as one of 20 countries at greatest risk of a major new—or significantly worsened—humanitarian crisis over the year ahead in IRC’s 2023 and 2024 Emergency Watchlist given its political instability, gang violence, rising food insecurity, disease outbreaks, and climate shocks that could drive rapid escalation of the humanitarian crisis. In early 2023, IRC re-opened its Haiti operations and scaled up its emergency response with a fully partner-led response in Port-au-Prince and surrounding communities. The focus has been on neighborhoods highly affected by gang violence as well as limited access to healthcare and services for survivors of violence and/or cholera hotspot issues. IRC is also engaging with partners in the Artibonite and Ouest Departments to service unmet needs in those areas.
The IRC Emergency Humanitarian Access Unit (EHAU) led the initial emergency responses and support establishing a country program that can be fully transitioned under the Latin American (LATAM) region.
Scope of work
The Partnerships Coordinator will support the country program in the strategic management and oversight of partnerships in Haiti. The position is responsible for facilitating the delivery of high-quality partnerships with local actors and will ensure compliance with IRC and donor requirements, quality services and outcomes for the communities we serve, and consistency with the IRC’s Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results System (PEERS). Working in close collaboration with the programs, grants, and operations departments to ensure that our approach to partners is in line with the IRC’s guiding partnership principles of equality, complementarity, mutuality, solidarity, results-orientation, and humility. The Partnership Coordinator will oversee all steps in the partnership management lifecycle and will ensure that partnerships are appropriately integrated into overall project cycle management.
The Partnerships Coordinator reports to the Deputy Director for Programs (DDP). The position will work closely with the MEAL Coordinator, Grants Coordinator, finance department, and program sector leads.
Responsibilities
Partnership Management
• Facilitate partnership management processes to ensure well-planned, timely, coordinated, and coherent partnerships across technical sectors including referring issues to senior management as appropriate.
• Co-facilitate and guide competitive and non-competitive partner selection processes to identify new partners and follow-on applications from existing partners.
• Actively promote partner collaboration in program design and resource allocation, and partner participation in key program delivery design making in the context of Project Cycle Meetings (PCM).
• Co-lead and coordinate due diligence processes and facilitate collaborative partnership risk management, including through effective mitigation, monitoring and reflection and reporting processes.
• Determine appropriate partnership agreement type and draft agreements, considering the due diligence outcomes and specific project and donor requirements. Liaise with HQ for review and approval; obtain donor approval as necessary.
• Lead facilitation and coordination of partnership management processes to ensure well planned, timely, coordinated and coherent partnership management.
• Liaise with finance and technical teams to achieve timely funds transfers and proper financial support for partners. Work with finance to address any challenges in payments.
• Coordinate and participate in timely and effective partner review and reflection (monitoring) activities across programs, finance, and compliance. Coordinate partner narrative and financial reporting processes, including review and provision of feedback.
• Work collaboratively with partners and IRC staff to constructively resolve any issues that may arise.
• Where partner performance issues are identified, facilitate timely action by the IRC to address any areas of non-performance.
• Co-lead the performance review of the partner, of the IRC (including on the basis of partner feedback), and of the partnership itself, including documentation of successes, challenges, and lessons learned.
Partnership Strategy and Program Approach
• Collaborate with technical coordinators to proactively identify potential strategic partnerships with NGOs, government bodies, and the private sector, including the deliberate pursuit of partner entities that are led by women and serve women and girls.
• Assist in ensuring that strategic partnership considerations are incorporated in program design.
• Contribute relevant proposal content and ensure appropriate budget resourcing for partner projects and support.
• Proactively engage partners in program development efforts.
• Co-facilitate and support robust stakeholder analysis processes that enable the Strategy Action Plan (SAP) and each program design to be based on how we can best support, reinforce and complement local civil society, government and private sector actors.
Building Blocks of Partnership Success
• Facilitate the ongoing development of IRC’s internal capacity to partner, including by establishing the six core building blocks for partnership success: self-assessment; defined and resourced roles across all departments; partnership working group; partnership training; stakeholder analysis; and collaborative design.
• Consistently promote and effectively use IRC’s Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results System (PEERS) and ensure that partnership decision-making and action is driven by IRC’s partnership principles.
• Provide a quarterly Partnership Management Report to the SMT, incorporating input from technical coordinators and operational leads as appropriate.
• Manage the Partnership Working Group, helping the PWG drives cross departmental collaboration and the effective and efficient management of partnerships, including referral of issues to SMT as appropriate.
Promotion of Effective and Respectful Partnerships
• Serve as a leader in building a culture of effective and respectful partnerships. Promote attitudes and values conducive to collaborative partnerships across the country program.
• Promote and apply the IRC’s PEERS approach. Contribute to building a strong understanding of PEERS throughout the IRC Haiti.
• Ensure that IRC’s partnership principles, skills, and approaches are applied across programs and projects.
• Facilitate systematic partner feedback on IRC’s management of the partnership relationship, including documentation of and response to partner feedback.
Partner Support and Capacity Sharing
• Facilitate the collaborative development and delivery of the partner project support plan, ensuring that it appropriately addresses issues identified in the due diligence process, and coordinate with relevant departments for the effective implementation of the plan.
• Ensure IRC Haiti understands partner capacity-strengthening priorities and identifies opportunities to support partner capacity-strengthening efforts.
• Support the resourcing and implementation of organizational development support as required.
• Collaborate with technical coordinators to integrate technical capacity-sharing approaches, including how IRC can learn from local partners.
• Promote and identify ways for continual learning between IRC staff and partners.
Staffing
• Ensure IRC’s structuring, recruitment, staff development, and performance management processes for partnership management roles are guided by PEERS and IRC’s principles, skills and approaches.
• Lead efforts to build a strong understanding and application of PEERS and partnership principles, skills and approaches among all departments.
Other
• Other relevant duties as assigned by supervisor to further IRC partnerships.
Job Requirements:
Education: Bachelor’s degree in International Development or Affairs, Social Science, Business or related field, Master’s degree a plus.
Work Experience: Minimum of six years of experience managing humanitarian programs, including substantial experience managing partnerships with NGOs and government entities.
Demonstrated Skills and Competencies:
• Technical understanding of and experience working with IRC’s PEERS approach (or another similar partnership management system) is preferred.
• Genuine interest in and commitment to collaborating with local partners for effective and context-appropriate humanitarian response.
• Demonstrated understanding of project planning and management cycles, including strong program design skills.
• Knowledge of grant processes and key donor compliance regulations, particularly BHA and ECHO.
• Demonstrated experience in an inter-departmental coordination role and the ability to communicate with and balance the priorities of a range of stakeholders.
• Experience training, facilitating dialogue, and promoting action across both internal colleagues and external partners.
• Demonstrated advance planning skills. Able to effectively prioritize and follow multiple activities and deadlines simultaneously. Highly organized with close attention to detail.
• Excellent English and French writing and editing skills.
• Excellent MS Office skills.
• Self-motivated, honest, and highly responsible.
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team
Language Skills: Fluency in English and French are required.
Working Environment: IRC’s office in Port-au-Prince with local travel to partner project sites as security and access permit.
Standard of Professional Conduct: The IRC and the IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way – our Code of Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Accountability, and Equality.
Commitment to Gender, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: The IRC is committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, respectful, and safe work environment where all persons are treated fairly, with dignity and respect. The IRC expressly prohibits and will not tolerate discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or bullying of the IRC persons in any work setting. We aim to increase the representation of women, people that are from country and communities we serve, and people who identify as races and ethnicities that are under-represented in global power structures.
How to apply
https://careers.rescue.org/us/en/job/req52576/Partnership-Coordinator